please
/plēz/
intransitive verb
- To give enjoyment, pleasure, or satisfaction to; make glad or contented.
- To be the will or desire of. May it please the court to admit this firearm as evidence.
- To give satisfaction or pleasure; be agreeable. waiters who try hard to please.
Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › dictionary › please
PLEASE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
2 days ago - The meaning of PLEASE is to afford or give pleasure or satisfaction. How to use please in a sentence.
Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionary › english › please
PLEASE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
4 days ago - PLEASE meaning: 1. used to make a request more polite: 2. used to add force to a request or demand: 3. used…. Learn more.
Dictionary.com
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PLEASE Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
2 weeks ago - Please definition: (used as a polite addition to requests, commands, etc.) if you would be so obliging; kindly.. See examples of PLEASE used in a sentence.
What was the original meaning of “please,” and how exactly did it function?
In French, the phrase for "please" is "s'il vous plaît", which means "if it pleases you". The English word "please" as a polite request comes from a similar origin. More on reddit.com
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March 13, 2025meaning - About the use of 'say please' - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
I'm not a native English speaker, so maybe there are something I don't pay attention to, today I said 'Can you do ....?' and he said 'Say please'. Does that mean what I said is impolite? I'm confus... More on english.stackexchange.com
Can you please tell me what the meaning of the song "Slatko je kad jurišnik bije " is?
502nd Knight's Mountaineer Brigade was a famous brigade of the Fifth Corps (city of Bihać). The eagle does indeed represent the Serbian one,and who's the stormer? No idea.
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June 8, 2020Please help! what's the meaning of DF in some comics? like "A DF EXCLUSIVE!"
Dynamic Forces. Company that specializes in signed comics basically. https://www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/aboutus.html More on reddit.com
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November 24, 2015Videos
00:59
Please meaning with example sentences | Learn English Vocabulary ...
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PLEASE - Meaning and Pronunciation - YouTube
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Please | Meaning of please - YouTube
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Different Meanings of "Please" | Billy and Cassie - YouTube
DEFINITION PLEASE - directed, written by and starring Sujata Day ...
Vocabulary.com
vocabulary.com › dictionary › please
Please - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com
To please someone is to give them pleasure or to make them happy. This is also a word for polite requests like, "Could you please pass the milk?"
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Please
Please - Wikipedia
October 27, 2025 - Please is a word used in the English language to indicate politeness and respect while making a request. Derived from shortening the phrase "if you please" or "if it please(s) you", the term has taken on substantial nuance based on its intonation ...
word indicating politeness and respect while making a request
Reddit
reddit.com › r/etymology › what was the original meaning of “please,” and how exactly did it function?
r/etymology on Reddit: What was the original meaning of “please,” and how exactly did it function?
March 13, 2025 -
When reading English texts from, say, the 1700s, I’ll encounter phrases like, “Please to invite the captain to dinner,” which I understand to mean “Please invite the captain to dinner.”
The way I use and understand “please” (in this sense; not the sense of “to give pleasure”) is that it’s essentially meaningless, and functions only as a tag to connote courtesy. Any sentence with “please” used this way still stands as correct when “please” is removed.
But this archaic usage makes it seem like it has a more tangible function. The sentence no longer works when “please” is omitted because there’s still that “to.”
So what is the history here?
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In French, the phrase for "please" is "s'il vous plaît", which means "if it pleases you". The English word "please" as a polite request comes from a similar origin.
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"Please" is a shortening of "if you please" or "if it please you," basically meaning, "if you don't mind."
Collins Dictionary
collinsdictionary.com › us › dictionary › english › please
PLEASE definition in American English | Collins English Dictionary
7 senses: 1. to give satisfaction, pleasure, or contentment to (a person); make or cause (a person) to be glad 2. to be the.... Click for more definitions.
Published March 20, 2018
Oxford English Dictionary
oed.com › dictionary › please_v
please, v. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary
There are 19 meanings listed in OED's entry for the verb please, six of which are labelled obsolete.
Wordsmyth
kids.wordsmyth.net › we
please | definition for kids | Wordsmyth Word Explorer Children's Dictionary; WILD dictionary K-2 | Wordsmyth
to make content or give pleasure to; make happy. : to be the will or wish of. : to wish or like.... See the full definition
Etymonline
etymonline.com › word › please
Please - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
By mid-14c. as "satisfy (a person), be agreeable to, be satisfactory or acceptable; to be satisfied." Meaning "to delight, attract (someone), amuse, entertain, excite agreeable sensations in" in English is from late 14c.
Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › dictionary › please
Please Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
PLEASE meaning: 1 : used to ask for something in a polite way; 2 : used to show that a request is serious or important
Wiktionary
en.wiktionary.org › wiki › please
please - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Middle English plesen, plaisen, borrowed from Old French plaise, conjugated form of plaisir or plaire, from Latin placeō (“to please, to seem good”),[1] from the Proto-Indo-European *pleHk- (“pleasingness, permission”).
Gymglish
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Please - Definition & Meaning
Learn how to use Please correctly with Gymglish. Test and improve your English. Start your free trial today. TEST YOUR ENGLISH Free trial and no commitment to buy · 4,7 on App Store, Play Store and Trustpilot More than 8 million learners worldwide ... "If there's anything we can do for you, don't hesitate to yell, and in the meantime, please sit back, enjoy a beer and we'll see you in 2 days...
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com › us › definition › english › please_1
please exclamation - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com
Definition of please exclamation in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
Grammarly
grammarly.com › commonly-confused-words › pleas-vs-please
Pleas vs. Please: What's the Difference?
In summary, pleas are serious requests or appeals, often used in a legal context, while please refers to giving pleasure and is also commonly used to politely make requests. Despite their similar pronunciation, their meanings and uses are quite ...
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"Say please" is often used when teaching a child politeness. Some may extend that to teaching non-native speakers as well. "Can you do ..." does not have the same meaning as "Please ..."
A few time this has happened to me: Someone asked me "Would you like to ..." and I answered truthfully "No". Only later, when the incident was past, I realized they meant to say "Please ...", to which I would have answered "Yes".
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"Say 'please'" is something you say to a child after they've asked for something, to remind them to say it politely, in the same way you would tell them "Don't talk with your mouth full" or "Say 'excuse me' after you burb" or "Cover your mouth when you cough".
In case it wasn't clear to you as a non-native speaker, this isn't a set phrase "say please", it's an instruction to say the word please, "Say 'please'".
For someone to have said this to you means the person was treating you like a child, either because that person is a jerk, or because they felt you were being rude to them and this was their way of telling you that you that. Even then, it wasn't very mature of them.
Quora
quora.com › What-does-please-mean-as-a-response-to-a-request-in-the-UK
What does 'please' mean as a response to a request in the UK? - Quora
Answer (1 of 10): It’s quite possible that they did mean you should have said “Please,” though without more context it is difficult to be sure. Certainly it is something parents tend to say to small children who forget it, because saying Please and Thank you are extremely important in English lif...
Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-meaning-of-I-am-to-please
What is the meaning of “I am to please”? - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): ‘I AIM to please’ means that all I want to do is to help everybody and make everybody happy. That is my vocation in life. It so often said ‘tongue in cheek’ that is, slightly jokily
AV1611
av1611.com › kjbp › kjv-dictionary › please.html
PLEASE - Definition from the KJV Dictionary
Definition of PLEASE, PLEASED, PLEASING, and PLEASINGLY from the King James Bible Dictionary
Longman
ldoceonline.com › dictionary › please
please | meaning of please in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE
Word family (noun) pleasantry pleasure ... of Contemporary Englishpleaseplease1 /pliːz/ ●●● S1 W2 interjection 1 EMPHASIZEused to be polite when asking someone to do something Could you please clean up the living room?...